Hey, I take offense at that! Just because I form a different opinion than you guys, and because I don't blindly give support to the "popular" teams (Scaled and Armadillo) that makes me a troll? Dude, you need to be a little more open minded. I wasn't trying to spark a flame war, I was just putting in my two cents.

Fair enough but read on.

SVB wrote:

Dr_Keith_H wrote:

Wow Braun that was pretty negative. Carmack should be more embarressed than proud? At least he HAS done some sort of manned tests (admittedly by comparison they don't seem much, but imagine if Rutan decided against entering ... Carmack would be IT as far as manned-tests-to-date are concerned ... and manned tests are what get us all excited)

That's not entirely true. Last summer Starchaser did some very successful tests of thier capsule up in Eloy, AZ. True, that wasn't thier final capsule design (It only carried one person) but it was something.

Can you please post to a link describing this test in some detail, I've had trouble finding it myself and would like the opportunity to compare this (apparantly manned) test against Carmack's.

SVB wrote:

You seem to like dwelling on my negative comments so much you missed the main point of my post. I wasn't just trying to say that Armadillo is stupid and should give up, I was just saying that I don't believe they're worth all the hype they recieve. I love reading their updates too, were it not for them I probably would have gotten bored with the X-Prize race a long time ago, but that's not a reason to call them a great, front-running team. If any of the other front runners (SC, CA, DaVinci, Starchaser, ARCA, etc.) posted as often as Armadillo it would be just as interesting, but we're not given that choice. Don't expect him to stop posting regular updates anytime soon. For every skeptic like me there's probably a hundred devout followers of the church of Carmack. That last comment isn't supposed to provoke anyone, just chill.

Armadillo receives hype? If your talking about the "hype" he receives here on the X-forum it's probably because he posts updates more frequently than anyone else that interest is being maintained. Is there some other "hype" he receives elsewhere that is disproportional to his chances?

Who's calling Carmack's team a front runner? It's a runner, that's plenty exciting enough for some of us.

The "church of Carmack" reference, heh, that's pretty good ... ... although if I were a member of the church of Carmack it would most likely be because of his earlier pursuits.

Chilling out would be facilitated by including some of your subsequent explanations with your original post in the first place. The ommission of explanation makes the first post look like a provocation to engage in what turns out to be a pointless display. Hence "provocative" and hence "troll", both of which are accusations easily avoided by a modicum of forethought.

hmm i guess i'll become slightly (or a lot lol) unpopular but i actually think that armadillo has a high hype factor. that's not to say that they haven't done interesting work!

maybe hype isn't the word, maybe i should rather say there seems to be a high noise to signal ratio (i.e. every update on their site isn't a breakthrough but seems to be portrayed as one). but still it seems to me that most people are just swayed by their website postings and pr work and mostly refer to that as well when talking about the team. and to be frank i don't think their site has more information than scaleds, arcas, or canadian arrows (all of whom don't report it each time they do every little thing) it just seems that way to those of you addicted to (any) news

I'm sure that all the other serious teams would have many more fans themselves if they did weekly updates on what they did for the week. Granted most of Armadillos updates really aren't all that earth moving but it's something to talk about. I really don't think they get all that much hype, most of that seems to surround Scaled but since they're most likely to win I guess hype isn't a proper word for the talk around Scaled. It should be interesting to see which teams are going to still be around when the X-Cup rolls around.

There's the link to Starchaser's drop test. Like Nova said, it's in thier "latest news" section, so it shouldn't have been that hard to find.

I'll agree that Armadillo is the most interesting of all the teams to watch, just because you can actuallly follow them. I think that Starchaser (Just an example) has a much more potentially profitable vehicle than their's, albeit very little money to develop it, but when they post news once every month and a half at best it gets boring. Armadillo may be the most interesting, but that doesn't make them the best, that's all I was trying to say.

_________________"Yes, that series of words I just said made perfect sense!"
-Professor Hubert Farnsworth

Yeah looks like I certainly fell down on the job when I went to the Starchaser site. Thanks for helping me to my feet. Egads that's a bit of a scary test, could the pilot get out of the capsule if something snafu'd?

I agree with your latest post SVB, but (in reference your last line) nobody was actually disputing that Armadillo had the greater chance than Starchaser. So why you feel that was a point to be made in our discussion escapes me.

I agree with your latest post SVB, but (in reference your last line) nobody was actually disputing that Armadillo had the greater chance than Starchaser. So why you feel that was a point to be made in our discussion escapes me.

Simply because I saw the topic title, "ArmadilloAlert" and I was frankly so tired of hearing everyone treat every valve installed on Armadillo's rocket like a technological breakthrough that I felt something must be said. Sorry, but I'm a little annoyed at all this attention around Armadillo when I think that other teams deserve at least as much. However, I realize that unless they start posting regular updates as welll that's not going to happen.

It would be cool to get weekly pics and videos from Starchaser and Canadian Arrow, though (My two favorite teams). I'm not quite sure why I kept talking aobut Starchaser, what they're doing is great, but Canadian Arrow is going to beat them to space.

_________________"Yes, that series of words I just said made perfect sense!"
-Professor Hubert Farnsworth

Simply because I saw the topic title, "ArmadilloAlert" and I was frankly so tired of hearing everyone treat every valve installed on Armadillo's rocket like a technological breakthrough that I felt something must be said.

That's pretty weak Braun. A subject title got you riled? Just because you aren't interested in the small things doesn't mean there aren't people here who are interested. If you ain't interested then ignore it, don't whine about it, whining makes you sound like a petulant child on the verge of a tantrum.

If I see another "Armadillo Alert" and I notice no-one else here has drawn attention to it, and if I think it's even faintly possible that someone here might appreciate checking out what's happening in Carmack's garage this week, then I'm going to post a link here to the new stuff. However small. If you like I can attach a note specifically for you which says "SVB need not apply" ...

If I used the phrase "Armadillo Alert" in the subject line again ... would that piss you off too much? Because if it would, I suppose it wouldn't pain me overmuch to change it to something else ... say "Check Carmack!"

If I see another "Armadillo Alert" and I notice no-one else here has drawn attention to it, and if I think it's even faintly possible that someone here might appreciate checking out what's happening in Carmack's garage this week, then I'm going to post a link here to the new stuff. However small.

but why do this? why draw attention to news "however small"? i'm sure those of you who cherish following armadillos every little step (both forwards and backwards) are already going to their site each and every day?

i'm sorry but i still think it's a lot of noise to signal, maybe i should begin to ignore anything armadillo-related (surely this can't be your aim?)

So how do you decide to go and visit armadillo? What criteria must be met before you go and click on their news page? If I post an "ArmadilloAlert" how does that change your decision making? Are you compelled against your will to go and look at the page? Do you have so little self control? In any case, I explained why I would post it ... didn't you read that?

Besides ... I drew attention to it in the first place because I wanted to ask the forum a question directly related to it ... and I did ask a question ... and there was some discussion about that which, incidentally, you participated in n54 (oddly, you didn't seem too annoyed until after SVB piped up with his little hissy-fit of frustration). What more do you want?

i was talking about how, in general, every little bit of armadillo news seem to be reported, and quoted your statement on "however small"

if you can't handle someone else than Senior Von Braun also being a bit fed up with armadillo that's your problem (for your own sake maybe i should point out your use of kindergarten bully tactics/arguments but i don't think you'll get it). we have different views and thats ok to me at least

other than that my self control tells me not to waste any more time on this topic

You didn't answer a single question that I asked you. I beg you to release your self control momentarily to answer the questions I asked you.

You boys are basically upset because I put a link pointing to Armadillo's latest news item on the first post of this thread. That's it. On top of that you were so upset that you decided to tell us. Well thanks, that's great now we have a tiny little insight into your tiny little minds (that's a bully tactic, I include it here to edify you, learn the difference).

You think that Armidillo is uninteresting, or at least that the Armidillo news items are uninteresting, it's hard to tell actually because you both seem to be a little schizophrenic on the issue. Either way you are entitled to your opinion. Why you are compelled to share this with us is mystifying.

You complain about what I did. I defend what I did. This is a valid exchange of points of view in my book. Or it would be if you would answer any of the damn questions.

Now I know the temptation is great to just ignore this, like you should have (evidently) ignored my first post, but go and read the first paragraph of this post and consider my request. If you don't answer the questions and just prevaricate or twist the issue then you're the one wasting bandwidth.

The NOVA 2 capsule was fitted with a main steerable ram-air canopy, we also had an emergency chute. The pilot was also wearing his own parachute. The drop tests were planned down to the smallest detail.

We conducted 2-drop tests, both manned, both ended in a safe and successful landings. We learnt a lot during the construction of the NOVA 2 capsule and the subsequent drop tests. This approach to development is something that Armadillo and Starchaser share; you have to design-build-and test, there is NO substitute for experience.

This approach can be seen in all aspects of Starchaser's activities. The CHURCHILL Mk3 bi-liquid rocket engine is currently in production and has been designed based on data acquired from building a testing the Mk1 and Mk2.

but why do this? why draw attention to news "however small"? i'm sure those of you who cherish following armadillos every little step (both forwards and backwards) are already going to their site each and every day?

Not all Armadillo news is posted on their site. This is a good forum to exchange information found out about Armadillo (and others) from sites many folks may not know about.